Thrashing machine



Aug. 12, 1930.'

A. H. BARHoRs-r 1,772,978

:HRAsHING MACHINE Filed May 20. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet l ug. 122, 1930 A. H. BARHoRsT 1,772,978

THRASHING MACHINE 'Filed May 2o, 1929 4 sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Aug. 12, 1930. A. H. BARHRST 1,772,978A

HING MACHINE v Y Filed My 2o, 1929 4 sheets-sheet 5 ATTORN EYS TNQ A Aug. l2, 1930. A. H. BARHRST 1;'772978 THRASHING MACHINE Filed May 2o, 1929 4 sheets-sheet 4 Patented Aug. 12, 1930 STATES ALBERT H. BARHORST, OF FORT LORAMIE, OHO

THRASHING MACHINE Application filed May 20,

This invention relates to thrashing machines or separators, and more particularly to an improved form of construction of the straw agitating mechanism whereby the straw and chad are more readily separated from the grain.

lt has been found that considerable grain is lost in the usual machines of the present day types of construction by virtue of the failure of the grain to be completely separated from the straw and consequently Acarried with the straw rearwardly through the machine and into the blower or other straw discharge device, where it is discharged andy wasted. Especially is this true when it is attempted to thrash the wheat, or other grain, before it is dry or if a considerable amount of weeds is mixed with it, the dampness from dew or rain making the straw tough asit is called in farm parlance.

Many other factors enter into the situation causing waste of the grain, among the most important of which is nonuniformity in feeding the machine either! by hand or automatically, thereby causing overcrowding, that is, causing the Straw to iow over the rack in too thick a layer to allow proper separation of the grain.

lt has been my aim to provide a device which may be placed in any standard make thrashing machine to impart positive agitation to the straw in its course through the thrasher, thereby increasing the speed of travel of the straw to prevent overcrowing, and at the same time spreading the straw evenly over the straw racks over which it is agitated.

A further object of the invention is to provide an agitator construction which may be used in combination with either a shaker type straw rack or a stationary rack.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a kseries of crank shafts which are connected by a plurality of bar members having rows of prongs carried thereby for agitating the straw during the gyratory motion imparted by the crank shafts when the latter are rotated.

Another important object of my invention is the provision for a self clearing ofthe forks 1929. Serial N0. 364,488.

or prongs on the agitator as they are withdrawn from the straw during upward movement and at the same time preventing the straw from fouling the crank shafts.

It has been my further aim to provide a stationary straw rack which may be used with my agitator and substituted for the shaker type rack, the construction being such that no grain or chaff can remain on the rack by virtue of the special' formation of the bars,

the straw being prevented from dropping throughthe apertures formed by the bars and the grain and chaff being caused to fall through onto a grain pan located below the rack. p A

l have also provided a series of return pans for the rear portion of the'stationary rack whereby the grain which has not ybeen knocked from the straw over the forward portion of the rack will'iinally be caused to fall onto the return pans and be deflected or returned to the forward end of the grain pan below' the straw rack, thereby preventing it from being blown out with the straw andV chaff had it been allowed to fall throughV the rear portion of the rack directly onto the chaffer and chaffer extension.

-With the foregoing and other objects in View which willl become apparent 'as the description of the invention proceeds, this in` vention consists in such novely features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined by the'appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary, longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a standard makeV thrashing machine to which my invention has been applied, portions of the agitating device being omitted for the sake of clearness Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the upper portion of the thrashing machine, showing the agitating device in plan, parts being broken away; t

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view sim# ilar to Fig. 3, the agitating device being omitted in order to more clearly show my improved form of straw rack, portions of the rack being broken away;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, enlarged detail perspective view of my invention;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a standard make thrashing machine of the shaker rack type, showing a. modified form my agitator; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of my guard plate for use with the modified form of agitator as shown in Fig-6.

Like characters refer to like parts in the several figures of the drawings in which A denotes any standard make thrashing machine having a toothed cylinder drum B cooperating with concaves C, and having the usual beater D positioned behind the drum for beating the straw down and spreading it across the machine as it is fed from the drum where it is engaged by my agitating device E, Below the agitator E is shown my improved form of straw rack F having the return pans G connected to the rear portion thereof which are adapted to defiect the grain onto the reciprocable grain pan H. This grain pan is of the usual construction, having the rear portion provided with the usual chatter I and chaifer extension J, below which is located a shoe sieve K for allowing the grain to be cleaned by the blast from the cleaning fan L, the chaff, dirt and faulty seeds being blown into the chamber at the rear of the machine where they are discharged with the straw throughthe stacker or other discharge device, M denoting the stacker fan. The good grain falls through the sieve K and is conducted to the grain auger N which discharges the grain from the machine. O is the tailing auger which collects and delivers the unthrashed heads to an elevator P for returning the heads to the cyl-r inder where they are again passed through the machine.

Specifically referriinr to my agitator E, l denotes crank shafts to which are journaled longitudinal bar members 2, preferably formed of wood, the bar members having fixed at intervals thereto transverse straps or bars 3 adapted to carry vertical prongs or forks 4t adjacent their extremities, the prongs extending downwardly in'rows on each side of the longitudinal bar members. If desired, the prongs may be slightly tapered or pointed at their ends. The number of cranks formed on the crank shafts depends upon the size of the thrashing machine to which my invention is attached., and the angular displacement of each crank with respect to the others also depends upon the size of the thrasher. I have shown for the purposes of Y illustrating Vmy" invention four-throw ncrank shafts, each crank of which is angularly displaced ninety degrees from the adjacent cranks, this construction being suitable for medium sized thrashers. While the agitator has been shown in the drawings extending substantially the full length of the thrasher, it need not necessarily be this long. When used with a shaker type straw rack (see Fig. 6), the straw rack itself imparts considerable agitation and rearward feed to the straw, and my agitator effectively increases the speed of travel of the straw and supplements the motion imparted by the straw rack to prevent overcrowding, and, therefore, it may be considerably shortened and fewer bar membersand teeth may be used than are necessary when used in conjunction with a stationary rack.

For the purpose of causing the longitudinal bar members to be positively centered on their respective cranks, i use collars 5 having set screws G on each side of the bar members, the collars engaging suitable metal bearings or boxings T which are fastened to the longitudinal bar members in such a manner as to prevent wearing of the said bar members. This construction affords an adjustable, smooth running boxing which is highly desirable in a thrashing machine. Grease cups 8, or other suitable means for lubricating the bearings, may be used.

Each bar member carries a pairV of guard rails or bars 9 having upwardly curved ei;- tensions l0 in' advance of the bar members, the extensions being formed with teeth ll for engaging the straw as it comes from the cylinder. These guard rails serve to prevent the straw from wrapping' around the crank shafts during its travel beneath the agitator and also cause the prongs on the adjacent bar members to clear themselves from the straw as they move upwardly. ln order to provide this self clearing for the outermost rows of prongs on each side of the thrasher, stationary bars 12 are fixed to the sides of the thrasher in any suitable manner (see Fig.

The cranks are journaled in suitable bear ings at their opposite ends and are provided with means for causing rotation, such means being well known in the art. For example, each crank may be provided with a pulley which may be connected by a belt to the adjacent crank, the driving power for the cranks being obtained by connecting one crank to some other ldriving pulley on the machine. Chain drives may be used in place of belt drives if desired.

Located below the agitator is the straw rack F over which the straw is adapted to travel in its course through the thraslier. This straw rack may be of the usual form of shaker type rack as shown in Fig. 6 or may be a statiuonar,v rack, depending upon the particular type ofinachii'ie which being used. have found that a statiemn as shown. best in Figs. and 5, ovides very efficient means for causing the grain and chaff to be separated from the straw, the straw being prevented from dropping through the ack constructed 13s/acre racl during its motion imparted by the tator'. As shown in Fig. il, the raclr is fo of transverse ldiamond shaped or 13 which are supported `Lheir by longitudinal supports li to tl e of thrasher, the supports f i for seating the bars in posit.. uppermost. Fixed to the tcp of the ,fr '-r rse bars in any suitable manner are lonf tudinal bars l5, these bars being trian.' in cross scetion. rl'his construction pro an aperturec rack on which there is no possibility of grain or chaff remaining. virtue of the convergence of the sides of the apertures, the straw is prevented from going through with the grain and chaff, thereby increasing the eiiiciency of separation cons' l -zrably beyond that which is usually cbt( with the ordinaryv fo 1nis of racl cons tions.

Fixed to the forward end cf the racl: is a curved plate i6, the up .er end of which engages the concaves for causing 'the straw to be guided onto the rack as it emerges from the drum.

- l have also found it desi"able to provide a guard plate 2O in the form shown said pl L Ahaving.slots .il formed therein for allowing the toothed projections l0 to reach through as the agitator cranks rotate, the straw being positively guided by the plates 16 and 2O into engagement with theagira rllhis guard plate may be fastened to the les ofthe thrasher in any suitable manner, there`- by preventing the beater l) from throwingl straw on top of the agitator where it would becon e tangled in the crank shafts Vindi-prolaably result in ydamage to the machine.

ln the modified form of agitator shown in Fig. 6, the guard plate 20 is shown as having slightly different curvature from the plate in Fig.' l in order to accommodate the shaker type straw raclr. This plate is best. shown in Fig. 7, the slots being indicated at 2l 'The usual type of checl flap might be used in place of the guard plate in this modified form of construction if desired.

The rear portion of the raclr is pr vided with a series of return pans l? located one behind the other and inclining downwardly towards the forward end of the machine. These return pans are for the purpose of causing the grain and chad which fall through the rear portion of the racli to be returned or deflected onto the chaii'er and chaifer extension.k lf these return pans were not used, this grain would probably be blown directly into'the stacker ldrum along with the chail' before it had a. chance to fall onto said chatter and chatter extension.

agitator device, are shown. The teeth on this bar are inclined rearwardly and at intervals blank spaces 19 are left between the teeth, these blank spaces being located directly oppcsite' the prongs when the longitudinal bar members of the agitator are in their lower most position. These toothed bars prevent the straw from working baci; toward the front of the machine and also comb'the straw and increase its agitation during its travel through the thrasher. lf desired, lthe toothed bars may be omitted as they are not absolutely required to give eticient operation but are desirable in some cases.

The operation of my'invention is as follows: As' the grain which is being thrashed emerges from the drum B and is beaten down and spread by the beater D, the teeth 1l formed on the guard rail extensions l0 engage the straw and draw it beneath the agitator. Under the influence of the reciprocating or oscillating bar members carrying the prongs, the straw is lifted, tossed, spread around and combed by the toothed bars 18,

vand is rapidly forced rearwardly through the z machine in an even How, y It has previously been an objection to the present day thrashing machines' that the straw isdischarged in bunches, which uneven discharge quite materially hinders the efficient separation of the grain therefrom. ln my agita-tor device the construction is such that this objection is overcome and the grain which has been heretofore usually wasted is saved. Because of this even flow, it is almost impossible to overcrowd or choke the machine, which overcrowding is quite prevalent in the ordinary type of t-hrashers.

f As the grain and ychalf are shaken from the straw by the agitator, they fall onto the straw rack immediately below the agitator, and by virtue of the wedge shaped formation of the bars of the rack, they are caused to fall through the apertures formed by the bars onto the grain pan nll. It is impossible for the grain and chad' to remain on the straw rack to hinder the separation of the following grain from the straw and yet thestraw is prevented from falling through with the grain by virtue of the convergence, of the sides of the apertures in the rack.

' The return pans Gformed on the rear portion of the straw rack prevent the 'grain which drops through that portion from being blown out with the chad by the blast from the cleaning fan before it has a chance to fall on the chatter and chatter extension J.

From the foregoing descriptionV it is obvious that practically all of the details which have heretofore caused lossv in the grain or ineiiicient separation have been carefully improved upon to avoid this waste.

Vhile the specilic details of construction havebeen herein shown and described, the invention is not confined thereto as changes lil) and alterations may be made without coparting from the spirit thereof, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A straw agitator for thrashing machines comprising a crank shaft, a longitudinal bar member journaled to said crank shaft, said bar member having straw engaging instrumentalities fixed thereto, means for rotating said crank shaft, and means carried by said bar member'for automatically causing the said straw engaging instrumentalities to disengage the straw upon upward movement of the said bar member, said means constituting a guard for the said crank shaft.

2. A straw agitator for thrashing machines comprising a crank shaft, a longitudinal bar member journaled to said cran r shaft, said bar member having straw engaging instrumentalities fixed thereto, means for rotating said crank shaft, and means carried by said bar member for automatically causing the said straw engaging instrumentalities to disengage the straw upon upward movement of the said bar member, said means including straw guiding and combing means formed on the straw receiving end of the agitator.

3. A straw agitator for thrashing' machines comprising a plurality of crank shafts, a plurality of longitudinal bar members ournaled to said crank shafts, the respectire cranks for each of said bar members being disposed angularly with respect to the other cranks, said bar members having straw engaging instrumentalities fixed thereto, means for rotating said crank shafts, and means carried by said bar member for automatically causing the said straw engaging instrunientalities to disengage the straw upon upward movement of said bar members.

4. A straw agitator for thrashing' machines comprising a plurality of multiple throw crank shafts, longitudinal bar members eX- tending between said crank shafts and journaled thereon, a plurality of prongs connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides thereof, a guard rail connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides of each bar member and extending longitudinally of the bar members, and means for effecting rotationof the crank shafts to impart a reciprocatory and oscillatory7 motion to the bar members for agitating the straw.

A. straw agitator for thrashing machines comprising a plurality of multiple throw crank shafts, longitudinal bar members eX- tending between said crank shafts and journaled thereon, a plurality of prongs connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides thereofT and a'guard rail connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides of each bar member and extending longitudinally of the bar members, said guard rails projecting in advance of said bar members on the straw receiving ends thereof to form a guide for directing the straw beneath the agitator.

G. A. straw agitator for thrashing machines comprising a plurality of multiple throw crank shafts haring crank arms, longitudinal bar members extending between said crank and journaled thereon, a plurality of prongs connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides thereof, a guard rail connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides of each bar member and extending longitudinally of said bar members, said guard rails projecting in advance of said bar members on trie straw receiving ends thereof and curving downwardly to extend below said bar members for a distance slightly greater than the length of the crank arms, tl .ce laterally and substantially parallel with bar members for the full length of the bar members, and means for rotating the crank shafts.

'7. fr straw agitator for thrashing machines comprising a plu "ility of multiple throw crank shafts, lon( idinal bar members eX- tending between said crank shafts and journaled thereon, a p-trality of prongs connected to each of said bar members on opposite` sides thereof, a guard rail connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides of each bar member and extending longitudinally of the bar members, said guard rails projecting in advance of said bar members on the straw receiving ends thereof, and means formed on the projecting portion of said guard rails for combing and drawing the straw beneath the agitator.

8. A straw agitator for thrashing machines comprising a plurality of multiple throw crank shafts, longitudinal bar members extending between said crank shafts and journaled thereon, a plurality of prongs connectto each of said bar members on opposite sides thereof, a guard rail connected to each of said bar members on opposite sides of each bar member and extending longitudinally of the bar members, said guard rails projecting in advance of said bar members on the straw receivingends thereof, and means formed on the *,n'ojecting portion of said guard rails for combing and drawing the straw beneath the agitator, said means comprising teeth formed on the said guard rails.

9. ln a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator as claimed in claim l, with a straw rack located below said agitator, said straw rack having means carried thereby for combing the straw incident to rearward movement of said straw under the influence of the said agitator.

l0. ln a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator as claimed in claim l, with a straw rack located below said agitator, said straw rack having means carried thereby for combing the straw incident to rearward movement of said straw under the iniiuence of the said agitator, said means comprising longitudinal Vbars having rearwardly inclined teeth adapted to project upwardly between the straw engaging instrumentalities of each longitudinal bar member of the agitator.

11. In a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator as claimed in claim 1, with a straw rack located below said agitator, said st-raw rack havingvmeans carried thereby for combing the straw incident to rearward movement of said straw under the influence of the said agitator', said means comprising' longitudinal bars having spaced groups of rearwardly inclined teeth adapted to project upwardly between the straw engaging instrumentalities carried by the longitudinal bar members of the agitator.

12. In a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator with a straw rack adapted to be located beneath said agitator and in close proximity thereto, said straw 'rack having a plurality of spaced rectangular bars extending in one direction and having one edge of said bars uppermost, and a plurality of spaced triangular bars extending transversely of the rectangular bars and superimposed thereon.

13. In a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator with a straw rack adapted kto be located beneath said agitator and in close 1proximity thereto, said straw rack having a plurality of spaced rectangular bars extending in one direction and a plurality of spaced triangular bars extending transversely of the rectangular bars and superimposed thereon, and means formed on the forward end of said straw rack for guiding the straw onto the said rack.

14. In a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator with a straw raclr adapted to be located beneath said agitator and in close'proximity thereto, said straw rack having a plurality of spaced rectangular bars extending in one direction and a plurality of spaced triangular bars extending transversely of the rectangular bars and superimposed thereon, and means formed on the forward end of the said straw racl; for guiding the straw ontothe said rack, said means comprising an upwardly curved plate.

15. In a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator with a straw rack adapted to be located beneath said agitator and in close proximity thereto, said straw raclr having a plurality of spaced rectangular bars extending in one direction and a plurality of spaced triangular vbars extending transversely of the rectangular bars and superimposed thereon, and a return pan connected to the rear portion of said straw rack and inclined downwardly toward the forward end of said thrashing machine.

'16. In a vthrashing machine, the combination of an agitator with a stationary straw rack adapted to be located beneath the said agitator and in close proximity thereto, said straw rack having a plurality of return pans connected beneath the rear portion thereof.

17. A straw raclr for thrashing machines comprising a plurality of spaced bars extending transversely of the rack, a plurality of spaced bars extending longitudinally of the racx, and combing members carried by said longitudinal bars.

18. A straw rack for thrashing machines comprising a plurality of spaced rectangular bars extending transversely of the rack, a plurality of spaced triangular bars extending longitudinally of the raclt, the bases of said triangular bars being superimposed on the said rectangular bars, and combing members carried by the said triangular bars.

19. A straw raclr for thrashing machines comprising a plurality of spaced rectangular bars extending transversely of the rack, a plurality of spaced triangular bars extending longitudinally of the raclr, the bases of said triangular bars being superimposed on the said rectangular bars, combing members carried by the said triangular bars, and a series of return pans connected to the rear portion of said rack.

20. In a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator with a straw rack adapted to be located beneath said agitator and in close proximity thereto, means formed on said agitator for drawing the straw over the said raclr beneath the said agitator, and means cooperating with the forward end of said agitator for guiding the straw beneath said agitator and preventing the straw from being thrown on top of the agitator and fouling the same.

21. In a thrashing machine, the combination of an agitator with a straw rack adapted to be located beneath said agitator and in close proximity thereto, means formed on said agitator for drawing the straw over the said rack beneath the said agitator, and means cooperating with the forwardend of said agitator for guiding the straw beneath said agitator and preventing the straw from being thrown on top of the agitator and fouling the same, said means comprising a slotted plate extending transversely of the thrashing machine through which slots the said y agitator is adapted to reach to draw the straw therebeneath.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALBERT H. BARHORST.

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